When The Format first entered the conversation back in 2003, their album Interventions and Lullabies was met with tons of love in the scene…but didn’t break out in the way many of their peers’ albums did. Dog Problems was met with a more mixed reception, and the band seemed to fade off and become a footnote as frontman Nate Ruess proceeded to conquer the mainstream with fun.
Yet as the years passed, and the likelihood of fun. returning became less likely, and Ruess’ underrated solo album failed to spark, the love of The Format grew. Fans clamored for the band’s return, and even Dog Problems was reevaluated and looked back on with more fondness. So when Ruess and partner Sam Means announced a couple of reunion shows on the eve of the pandemic, it kicked up a fervor of interest. Of course, the pandemic put a hold on those plans, but it seemed to only increase the demand.
The reunion finally happened in 2025, with more shows than previously announced, and an even bigger surprise – new music! The band’s return was announced with “Holy Roller” – a sharp-tongued pop rocker that rolled into fans’ ears so sweetly it sounded as if no time had passed. Ruess’ sardonic lyrics like “I’d fake my death, if it wasn’t such a mess” were still able to strike that nerve that’s hard to pinpoint, but feels so good to shout at the world.
Boycott Heaven, the triumphant return of the Arizona band, isn’t quite a theme album or opera, but the Holy Roller’s presence does roll through the album. The band are certainly battling with some existential struggles. From the top of the album, “No Gold at the Top” rages against time (“One night to lose control”) and the times (“today is dangerous”) while swimming through Stone Roses-style psychedelic guitars, building into explosive drums and grunge-worthy screams.
There’s no division between the external and internal angst at the core of the album. Ruess looks back at his wilder youth, and the damage it caused himself and those who cared about him (“Shot in the Dark”) a current identity crisis (“I feel like I am not like anyone” on “Forever”) and mental health struggles (“Depression”). As heavy as the subject matter gets, it’s easy to feel the excitement the band has for the music. There’s a fervent energy in the U2-sized guitars and rumbling percussion of “Shot in the Dark”, and the embrace of stadium-sized harmonies and pop melodies on “Forever”. And “Depressed” has that 90’s mix of alt rock and power pop that Weezer introduced to the mainstream on their debut.
Ruess’ vocals are just as versatile as ever, showing off his chops on slower number “No You Don’t”, while Means arranges an epic power ballad to back him up. And while Ruess gets in a lovely love letter to his wife on the acoustic “Right Where I Belong”, Boycott Heaven generally tackles larger issues with grander musical swings.
Anyone who follows Ruess on X will know he has not been shy about his feelings on the atrocities committed in Palestine, and he addresses his feelings with empathy on “Leave it Alone (Till the Morning)” (“When all the kids in Gaza are dying, sick or gone. The problem is they got nowhere to go”). There’s a pensiveness to this song, underlined by a hip hop beat that takes precedence over the track’s lo-fi guitars.
The ‘Holy Roller’ returns on the title track, as Ruess rails against the angels (“Boycott heaven because they never gave a fuck about us”) over tingling emo riffs while still trying to “hold on to something to believe in”. This feeling of being lost in our current turmoil is one anyone who watches the news is likely feeling, and the band captures that feeling here and throughout the album without generally calling out the villains creating the chaos. It makes a line on the album’s closing piano-led “Back to Life” resonate powerfully: “I’m here to reclaim what is mine. Here to wrestle these demons down to die”.
When so much in our lives is out of control, the real battle is taking back your life from the chaos, centering yourself around what you have and have control over, and having gratitude and love for the good things that remain. That’s personally what I take from this strong comeback from the band, but Ruess and Means leave it to every listener to decide who their “Holy Roller” is, and what heaven they choose to boycott.
Boycott Heaven is out everywhere tomorrow, January 23rd. Listen to the pre-released singles here.
The Indy Review 
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